The present invention relates generally to printers, and more particularly, to a system and method for intermittently and individually slicing and cutting printed media at selected positions to create specialty-sized prints.
Typically, printed media, especially photographic printed media, must be trimmed to create a specialty-sized print. Generally, photographic printer outputs are trimmed offline to specialty-sizes, for example, 4xc3x976-inch prints, 5xc3x977-inch prints, 4xc3x9710-inch prints, or 8xc3x9710-inch prints. In one known method, all prints of one size are printed and cut from a media roll of a desired width. For example, if a 4xc3x976-inch print is desired, then a media roll having a width of four inches may be used. The media is then transversely cut every six inches such that a plurality of 4xc3x976-inch prints are produced. However, for each specialty-sized print a new media roll is required, and hence, the method is expensive and lacks versatility. Moreover, when using a small specialty-sized roll, as for example, the media roll having a width of four inches, the print speed and throughput of the equipment is lower than equipment which is capable of producing double prints across a media roll.
Accordingly to provide specialty-sized prints in a printer, it would be desirable to perform both slices and cuts online. However, one concern that arises when attempting to develop an online system which incorporates printing, slicing and cutting is the ability of a printer media advancement mechanism to direct the media through the printer without the media jamming or stopping after being cut or sliced. To avoid this difficulty, many known systems opt for an offline trimmer to create specialty-sized prints.
Offline trimmers, including offline cutters, which cut transversely to the media advancement direction, and offline slicers, which cut parallel to the media advancement direction, are alternative systems available to produce cleanly trimmed prints from a standard-sized media sheet. However, the cutters and slicers require additional steps in the production process as the printed media must first be manually removed by an operator from a printer and then input by the operator into the offline slicer and/or cutter. This process is not desired because the operator must first print the media, then slice the media, and finally, cut the media. Inaccuracies in cutting the prints are likely because each operation requires aligning the media sheet.
Integrated offline systems having both cutters and slicers are known, but consumer market products are simplistic in design. Known examples of consumer-available offline trimmers include hand-operated rotary trimmers or hand-operated guillotine cutters. These hand-operated systems, which are available to the consumer market, require manual alignment and positioning of the media, as well as manual operation of the slicer and/or cutter.
Commercial offline trimmers are also available. One type of known commercial trimmer employs an offline slicer, which has multiple blades to make a plurality of slices in a large media web. However, this type of slicer generally must be pre-set such that the media web is sliced continuously along the same lines. Hence, the blades that are engaged at the beginning of a print job remain engaged throughout the entire print job. Typically, these offline slicers are expensive and limited in their application.
In order to create different sized prints from a standard rolled media or media sheet, it would be desirable for the slicer to include blades that are independently actuable. One difficulty with such a flexible system, which allows a user to change the size of the prints on command, is the tendency for the system to crease the media sheet or print a blank media sheet as the system adjusts to the produce the desired print size. Commercial offline slicers are known which have employed a pneumatic actuator system that allows multiple round blades to be actuated simultaneously or intermittently by high-pressure air. However, such pneumatic systems are not practical for a small printer, due to the cost and size of the slicer.
What is needed is a low-cost, compact, flexible printer system, which includes an online cutter and slicer. By incorporating the cutter and slicer, specialty prints could be generated without the additional steps required when using an offline trimmer. However, to make the printer with cutter and slicer operations feasible for a small printer and consumer market, the printer must be relatively inexpensive to manufacture and to use. In addition, the printer may have a media advancement mechanism that directs the media along a media pathway after being cut or sliced. Finally, by providing a slicer with individually actuable blades, plural sizes could be created from a single rolled media or media sheet.
Briefly, the invention includes a printer for creating specialty-sized prints. The printer includes a media advancement mechanism, a printing mechanism, a cutter mechanism and a slicing mechanism. The advancement mechanism advances a media web or sheet through the printer in a media advancement direction. The printing mechanism is configured to print a desired-size print on the media. The cutter mechanism is operatively related to the printing mechanism, and is configured to cut the media transverse to the media advancement direction. The slicing mechanism is operatively related to the cutter mechanism and configured to slice the media parallel to the media advancement direction.
The slicing mechanism typically includes a plurality of cams positioned on a camshaft and a plurality of slicer modules positioned on a second shaft. Each slicer module typically has a contact spring and a blade. The contact spring of each such slicer module is operatively spaced from a cam associated with the respective slicer module. The blade of each such slicer module is operatively spaced from the media web or sheet.
An actuation mechanism may control the rotation of the camshaft such that the cams are positioned in either a contact or non-contact position. When in a contact position, the cams push against the contact spring of the slicer modules, thereby engaging the blade of the slicer module against the media web. The cams may be positioned in phase or out of phase so the slicer modules are actuated independently or simultaneously, depending on the desired print size.
The media advancement mechanism typically includes a plurality of rollers. Following printing by the print mechanism, an input roller typically is configured to drive the media web through the cutter mechanism and slicer mechanism. An output roller typically is positioned following the slicer mechanism so that the media is pulled through the slicer mechanism after being sliced.